| | | | | Exec summary: Good evening from Philly... I'm at the NFC Championship Game... So this is an early edition of the newsletter, recapping this split-screen weekend and looking ahead to the work week. Scroll down for a preview of tonight's SAG Awards as well! | | Dan Rather launching a show on The Young Turks streaming network | | | Oliver Darcy emails: Former "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather will launch a new weekly show on The Young Turks Network Monday. The 86-year-old veteran newsman confessed to me he was "only vaguely aware" of the online progressive network prior to taking a meeting with CEO Cenk Uygur. But, he explained, "something clicked" between the two of them and he "jumped" at the opportunity to launch a newscast on the network. Rather told me the show "will be raw" and focus on original reporting, stories that he believes aren't reaching enough attention, and analysis of the day's news. Read the full story... | | 'This has to be resisted' | | | Darcy adds: Rather told me in a phone call Sunday morning that President Trump's attacks on the press and political norms helped motivate him to launch the new show. Rather said "efforts to convince the public that people in the news are dealing in fake news is quite frankly bullshit." He added, "I feel strongly that when you have a president who is continually, relentlessly damning the press, individuals by name, individual institutions and calling the press the enemy of the people -- listen, this has to be resisted." | | Can't we do better than this? | | That's what I asked on the TV edition of "Reliable Sources." Here we are on the first anniversary of President Trump's inauguration... And the government is shut down while the two sides squabble... And the U.S. is once again embarrassed in the eyes of the world. Americans are looking at each other asking, "Can't we do any better than this?"
--> My Q's about the media coverage: Do you know how we got here, how we got into this shutdown situation? Do you feel like the press has explained the stalemate well? | | | Leave it to Erick Erickson. He tweeted: "The fact that our government can shutdown from time to time is actually a sign of our greatness. An actual authoritarian government would never shut down because the back and forth between parties and competing desires of voters would be ignored completely..." | | | Anti-Trump protests on the left side of the screen, government shutdown on the right side. Or vice versa. That was the cable news visual of the weekend. Once again, the women's marches seemingly exceeded expectations, at least in some cities, providing compelling aerial pictures for the TV networks... | | --> The marches were just the "crest of the wave," Time's Charlotte Alter told me on Sunday's "Reliable." Women are not just "marching and then going home and doing nothing" -- they're running and/or organizing...
--> "This is a cultural moment," yes, but it's also "like a political revolution," Alter said. "That's what these activists are trying to achieve here." Alter and I talked about this in more detail on this week's "Reliable" podcast. Check it out via iTunes or Stitcher... | | Split-screens on the web, too | | | This was the CNN.com home page on Sunday afternoon: | | | Even before the shutdown actually started, The Washington Examiner's Eddie Scarry claimed that the "Democrats' government shutdown has the media's full support..." And on Sunday, NewsBusters' Nicholas Fondacaro asserted that ABC wrongly apportioned the blame. I think we're going to hear a lot more of this from conservative media critics... | | | Dan Pfeiffer tweeted about this Trump campaign ad tying Democrats to murders by undocumented immigrants: "The lack of media and political outrage about the Trump Campaign accusing Democrats of murder says so much about how much Trump has shifted the window on what is acceptable political rhetoric. Why are Republican members not being asked whether they agree with that attack?" | | Media "struggling to assign blame?" | | | Jason Schwartz's latest for Politico: "Media outlets struggle to assign blame for shutdown." His subhed: "Both Republicans and Democrats claim the coverage is skewed against them..." | | Was the #WomensMarch actually the bigger story this weekend? | | I have a feeling it might be... But I'll defer to the historians.
"As far as I'm concerned," both stories are "being covered the correct way, which is, they are both very big deals," Jeff Greenfield said on "Reliable." And they "both demonstrate one of the things that the year of Trump has brought to us, which is this enormous increase in intensity. The political feelings on both sides run so deep and so powerfully, that they bring millions into the street and they bring government to a halt..."
--> Mother Jones EIC Clara Jeffery tweeted: "The political mobilization of women -- all different kinds of women, for a kaleidoscope of reasons -- is the biggest story of the past/coming year..." | | -- "Glenn Greenwald's war on the Russia investigation." With a headline like that, you know it's a must-read... (NYMag)
-- What do all of Facebook's adjustments mean for advertisers? Sapna Maheshwari sizes up the landscape in this Monday column... (NYT)
-- Speaking of Facebook and the NYT: When Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday afternoon that FB's News Feed "would prioritize news from sources that are 'trustworthy, informative, and local,'" shares in the NYT Co. jumped... (Recode) | | The Daily Beast snags BI's Max Tani | | | News from The Daily Beast tonight: "The Daily Beast is proud to announce the hiring of media reporter Max Tani, who has broken an impressive streak of stories about partisan media for Business Insider. Tani starts at the beginning of February and joins a slate of new hires for The Daily Beast including tech reporter Taylor Lorenz (from The Hill) and social media editors Mandy Velez (Google) and Deepa Lakshmin (MTV News)." | | Facebook hiring Eurosport CEO | | The Guardian's Mark Sweney broke this news on Friday: "Facebook is poised to appoint a senior broadcasting executive," Eurosport's chief Peter Hutton, "to lead its multibillion-dollar drive to secure streaming rights for top-flight live sport."
Variety's Todd Spangler confirmed Hutton's hiring over the weekend: "At Facebook, Hutton will be focused on securing global sports rights and based in Silicon Valley, according to sources... Hutton is set to join Facebook following the 2018 Winter Olympic Games next month..." | | Anthony Noto leaving Twitter? | | That's the word from the WSJ's Peter Rudegeair and Liz Hoffman. Twitter COO Anthony Noto "is in discussions to become the next chief executive of Social Finance Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, as the online lender grapples with accusations of improper workplace culture... Noto is likely to make a decision in the coming days... Twitter might lobby hard to keep him..."
-- Peter Kafka tweeted: "Noto is Twitter's most important full-time employee..." | | Media week ahead calendar | | -- Monday: The Sundance Film Festival continues in Park City...
-- Tuesday morning: Oscars nominations time...
-- Tuesday: The World Economic Forum's annual meeting begins in Davos...
-- Tuesday: The book "Modern Loss" comes out, inspired by the web site of the same name. I contributed one of the stories in the book...
-- Tuesday: The Washington Post hosts "Americans and the Media: Sorting Fact from Fake News," an event focused on the media's role in our democracy... | | -- "For everyone saying time is up, is it really up?" Terry Crews talked about Adam Venit and "repercussions" in an interview with Variety at Sundance... (Variety)
-- What's Sundance like without the "mystique" of Harvey Weinstein? Brooks Barnes has a scene-setter... (New York Times)
-- Margaret Sullivan's latest focuses on Robyn Tomlin, the new editor of McClatchy's newspapers in the Carolinas... (Washington Post) | | Lester Holt in North Korea | | Lester Holt and his crew landed in North Korea on Saturday... NBC says he "will file exclusive stories for NBC News and MSNBC through Monday, and anchor 'NBC Nightly News' live from Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday..." Then he'll be back in South Korea for the Olympics next month...
--> Holt disclosed: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs "crafted much of the itinerary of where we can go and advising us on what they don't frankly want us to shoot..." | | Dickerson signs off "Face" | | | "John, it's a pleasure to be here on your last show. Congratulations on the new gig," White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told John Dickerson on Sunday's "Face." Later in the broadcast, Dickerson's panelists briefly seized control of the show from him to says congrats and thanks. Jeffrey Goldberg: "We've all enjoyed your hosting, your moderating, and we think that your civility and restraint and persistence and intelligence have been a great boon to us and a great boon to your viewers." Dickerson is now full-time at "CBS This Morning..." No word on his Sunday successor yet... | | Trump and the media, one year in | | Backlash over Trump supporter focus groups | | | Is it liberal intolerance? Why do some on the left hate the preponderance of Trump supporter focus groups and features? Neera Tanden and Jeff Greenfield discussed that on the program... Mediaite has a recap here... | | Making Trump "even Trumpier?" | | | POTUS has changed the news media by making "everyone's attention spans shorter," Olivia Nuzzi said. And has the media "changed" him at all? "If anything," Nuzzi said, "we have just made him even Trumpier than he was on day one of his presidency." Watch the discussion with Nuzzi and Douglas Brinkley here... | | | Later in the program, W.H. correspondent April Ryan discussed the death threats she has received -- "yes, death threats. Yes, for asking questions and reporting." Deadline.com wrote up her disturbing account here... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- ICYMI: David Fahrenthold's piece from Palm Beach had this lead: "'Welcome to Mar-a-Lago!' Fox News host Jeanine Pirro said as she took the stage. 'A magnificent place...' She was smiling. That was a setup. Here was the joke: 'It sure ain't no shithole!' Pirro said..." (WashPost)
-- "The Resident" premieres on Fox after the NFC Championship game... Here's Brian Lowry's review... (CNN) | | | The 24th Annual Screen Awards will air live on both TNT and TBS at 8pm ET... | | Chloe Melas emails: The SAG Awards are making history tonight. Kristen Bell is hosting the event -- the first time the SAG Awards has had an emcee. And the ceremony will also for the first time ever feature exclusively female presenters. Last month SAG Awards exec producer Kathy Connell told THR the effort is a "salute to women who have been very brave and speaking up" in recent months. Halle Berry, Jessica Lange, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Lupita Nyong'o are among those scheduled to present awards.
--> Read Chloe's full preview here...
--> Here's the complete nominations list... | | | Per Turner PR: "Immediately following the simulcast will be a special sneak peek of TNT's 'The Alienist,' starring Dakota Fanning, Daniel Brühl and Luke Evans." TNT is heavily promoting the new drama... It'll officially premiere on Monday night... | | "SNL" mocks Trump's physical exam | | Frank Pallotta emails: Even without Alec Baldwin, "Saturday Night Live" still found a way to tease the commander-in-chief. The subject of mockery was his latest physical exam. "I'm telling you, this hunk is healthy enough to be president for at least another 10 to 20 years, easy," Beck Bennett's White House doctor said...
Here's Frank's full recap of the show... | | "Shape of Water" wins big at the PGA Awards | | | Brian Lowry emails: "The Shape of Water" took the Producers Guild's award for best picture on Saturday night... This probably does more to cloud the Oscar race than clarify it, with the SAG Awards coming tonight... | | Peele: "We can break out of the sunken place together" | | "It feels like we are living in the sunken place right now," "Get Out" writer-director Jordan Peele said while accepting the Producers Guild's Stanley Kramer Award.
"What really scares me... is the silencing of voices. 'Get Out' is my protest against that," he said. But he ended on a positive note, per the AP: "Finally unique voices are breaking through. Diverse and honest storytelling opens eyes and hearts. We can break out of the sunken place together." | | Weekend box office headlines | | Brian Lowry emails: There were a few milestones at the weekend box office, with "Jumanji" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" passing the $300 million and $600 million domestic plateaus, respectively. While the latter is obviously a huge hit, it's going to fall well short of predecessor "The Force Awakens'" record haul ($936 million), for reasons that likely include pent-up demand for the earlier film, a proliferation of "Star Wars" movies and, yes, some squandered return business due to the split fan reaction to the latest movie...
--> Brooks Barnes' take in Monday's NYT: "'Greatest Showman' Becomes a Sleeper Hit as Disrespected Films Flourish" | | | Ending this newsletter on a happy note: "Countless newlyweds have chosen Ed Sheeran's ballad, 'Thinking Out Loud,' to play during their first dance. Now, the British singer-songwriter gets to decide if he wants it played at his own wedding. Sheeran, 26, announced Saturday morning that he and his longtime girlfriend, Cherry Seaborn, are engaged," CNN's Ben Geier writes... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I love the feedback, corrections, suggestions, and tips. Thank you! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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